Pacific Energy True North

[Dan R-M]

Hey all,
In my endless searching and filtering I've come across this stove, the PE True North tn19. There's a dealer a little less than an hour away that I might go down to see depending on what ya'll say.
Could someone post a review of theirs? Cause I'm assuming that someone owns one.

 

[begreen]

Please search the forum there was a nice review here a couple years ago.

 

[begreen]

Here is one. Picture links are broken, but the story is still there.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/first-time-burning-a-high-efficiency-woodstove.72197/

 

[billb3]

Bought one a month ago.
Fairly easy stove to use.
I'll still have coals in the morning after 9/10 hours,(air at low stop ) enough to throw some small pine kindling, open the air all the way and have a fire going again in a couple of minutes.
Not much of a manual, not sure if the air adjust cuts back air to the secondary tubes .
Wish the fire box was a little taller, especially after two weeks of ash has accumulated in the bottom.
Easy to hit the tubes.

I didn't get the blower.
Have been burning mostly cherry and maple so far. Throw two big splits of oak in at 9PM. That's it till 6/7 AM.

Haven't pushed it yet as burning as low as possible has sufficed so far.
550 on top / 600 on the glass front when it's going good with nice secondaries.

First small fire after two tiny starters to bake the paint.
Little canon camera didn't capture the secondaries well.


A little soot on the glass. May have been the firebrick drying out.
Will look almost that bad at 6AM, but once a good fire is going there's just a little on the sides.

 

[NBABUCKS1]

This is my first time burning on a wood stove and purchased one this past summer. Have been heating my house with it since mid October. I burn soft spruce (don't have access to anything else) and am quite pleased with it. I have no frame of reference to any other stove so I don't know if this is exceeding my expectations as I had no real expectations going in.

My wood was only seasoned one summer so my wood might be a bit green yet, however I usually have to have the air about .5 cm off all the way cut off. If I leave it cut off completely the temp gets too low and secondaries do not engage (however if the firebox is real hot and the wood real dry it can be closed all the way down).

I purchased the blower and am quite happy with it. It's a bit loud, but it moves the heat around my place. I had similar glass issues as the previous poster at first but they have mostly gone away. Very little soot on glass after two months of burning.

Tough to load E/W unless you have smaller pieces, and I agree on short box. Sometimes I hit the fiber baffel board and worry that I am damaging it.

On a full load of spruce I can get about 6 hours or so.

All in all I am very happy with the stove from a value perspective. Incredible deal from a quality manufacture at a great pricepoint. My next house will have a blaze king as I seek a longer burn time and a more moderate temperature (I live in a very mild rain forest in AK..it's 40 and raining now).

 

[Dan R-M]

Wooo! Thanks for the information (including the link to the previous thread). I think this warrants a closer look, so I'll head down to the dealer after all.
By the way, I have gotten so much out of this forum already I feel compelled to thank the, what, thousands of contributors? And certainly the moderators, as well. This is such a great service.

 

[begreen]

I took a close look at one of these recently. It is solid, simple and well made. If you want more features in this size look at the PE Super 27.

 

[jetmech]

Saw one burning at my local shop last year, its a plain and simple good looking heater....

 

[Dan R-M]

Went down to the store yesterday to check it out, and have a couple of questions about it for those who know.
First and foremost, I was looking at the floor model and its' front, just-left-of-center firebrick was not sitting level. Picking it up I found a small metal blob, maybe 1/2 inch high. The store folks (who come across quite grouchy by phone and in person) said it was probably just a glob left over from manufacturing. But they would sell me that one. Is this normal? Would you knock that off with a hammer or something? My thoughts are 1) why would they sell me this stove with an obvious imperfection, 2) why would they display a stove with an obvious imperfection, and 3) isn't this something that PE should have noticed before sending it? I'd love to hear thoughts from those of you who deal or own PE and the TN. It's not a deal-breaker, but I sure would love to know more. I'm considering going to a different shop further away.
Second, it seems like the bottom of the firebox sits kind of high... I see what you were talking about, Billb3. Do you have trouble with coals falling out the front when you open it?

 

[begreen]

Imperfections do get by QC sometimes, even in the best of stoves. I would just grind off the weld blob or grind a recess into the brick back to make room for it.